self-driving cars - Walton Law Firm

Autonomous Cars Will Not Prevent All Crashes in Valley Center

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 14:15:22 GMT

When researchers began to develop autonomous vehicles, or self-driving cars, the thinking was that these vehicles could eliminate the element of human error that contributes to so many car accidents in Southern California. Yet in the time that autonomous vehicles have been tested, they have not actually proven to be all that safe. Indeed, in some cases, self-driving cars have resulted in serious and fatal injuries, especially to pedestrians. According to a recent article in California StreetsBlog, a new study conducted by researchers at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) suggests that autonomous vehicles will likely prevent only about one-third of all motor vehicle collisions in California and across the country.

Why are autonomous vehicles so ineffective? Is there a possibility that the technology will improve in the coming years such that self-driving cars will do more to reduce the rates of traffic collisions in California?

IIHS Says Identifying Hazards is Not Enough to Prevent Collisions

The recent IIHS study explains that self-driving cars have the capacity to identify hazards that could cause a car accident, and in the future, these autonomous vehicles could get really good at this type of action. Yet, according to IIHS vice president Jessica Cicchino, “this alone would not prevent the bulk of crashes.” What the IIHS study determined is that “fully self-driving cars will eventually identify hazards better than people,” and being able to identify a hazard prior to a collision is certainly important in preventing injuries and deaths.

However, it is not the only way to avoid injuries and deaths from motor vehicle collisions. In fact, there are many different types of human error that contribute to motor vehicle collisions, and autonomous vehicles cannot prevent all of them.

Different Types of Human Error Cause Car Crashes

The IIHS researchers examined approximately 5,000 car accident reports from the National Motor Vehicle Causation Survey to classify the types of driver error that most frequently contribute to and cause collisions. They put those types of human error into these categories:

“Sensing and perceiving” errors, which can include, for example, “things like driver distraction, impeded visibility, and failing to recognize hazards before it [is] too late”;
“Predicting” errors, which might include, for example, situations where “drivers misjudged a gap in traffic, incorrectly estimated how fast another vehicle was going, or made an incorrect assumption about what another road user was going to do”;
“Planning and deciding errors,” which could include “driving too quickly or too slowly for the road conditions, driving aggressively, or leaving too little following distance from the vehicle ahead”;
“Execution and performance” errors that may include “inadequate or incorrect evasive maneuvers, overcompensation, and other mistakes in controlling the vehicle”; and
“Incapacitation,” which involves errors made as a result of intoxication, fatigued driving, or medical conditions.

In general, autonomous vehicles are likely only able to prevent crashes involving incapacitation errors, which account for about 10% of all accidents, and some of the other errors listed above that involve “detecting hazards.” Otherwise, human errors will likely continue to play a role in car crashes, according to the study.

Learn More From a Valley Center Car Accident Lawyer

If you need assistance filing a car accident claim, a Valley Center auto accident lawyer can help. Contact the Walton Law Firm today.

Self-Driving Vehicles and Car Accident Risks in Rancho Bernardo

North County Injury Lawyers — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 22:43:34 GMT

If you live in Rancho Bernardo and regularly commute within the San Diego area, you probably know that self-driving cars have become a frequent topic of conversation and concern in California. Many Southern California residents are not yet ready to share the road with autonomous vehicles, while others in the industry are pushing for the expansion of the self-driving car market. On the one hand, those in favor of self-driving cars argue, for instance, that these vehicles “will help create a safer, cleaner, and more mobile society,” according to a recent article in Science Magazine. On the other hand, some consumer safety advocates contend that the costs associated with autonomous vehicles may not outweigh the safety benefits, according to a recent report in USA Today.

Where does California law stand on autonomous vehicles and auto accidents? How should Rancho Bernardo residents assess the risks and benefits of self-driving cars?

Liability and Manufacturer Specifications

California laws have been more willing than those in many other states to accommodate self-driving vehicles. However, a recent decision from the California DMV suggests that it may have some questions about autonomous vehicles and liability. More specifically, according to an article in Engadget.com, “the state’s DMV has eliminated a planned rule . . . that would have let companies avoid liability for an autonomous vehicle crash if the machine hadn’t been maintained to manufacturer specs.” To put that another way, the rule would have allowed the vehicle manufacturer to be free of liability, regardless of the cause of the crash, if the vehicle owner had not properly maintained the car. General Motors (GM) suggested the rule initially.

The California DMV opened the rule for comments, and ultimately decided against implementing the rule. As such, autonomous vehicle manufacturers can still bear at least some of the liability in a crash caused by, for instance, an error in the vehicle’s code even if the car’s owner did not have it maintained to manufacturer specs.

Do Self-Driving Car Benefits Outweigh the Risks?

As more autonomous vehicles are designed and manufactured, consumer advocates in California and across the country are also asking whether the safety benefits actually outweigh the risks. According to the USA Today report, self-driving cars will have to make “choices” when forced into “no-win” accident situations. In other words, the vehicle may have to decide, in effect, who lives and who dies when a traffic collision is unavoidable.

More specifically, self-driving cars are programmed to strike “the smaller thing” when crashing into something is unavoidable—such as another vehicle or a tree. However, as the report emphasizes, “what if the smaller thing is a child?” According to a study conducted by Asim Shariff, an assistant professor of psychology at University of California, Irvine, most drivers believe that autonomous vehicles should behave in a way that leaves the fewest number of people hurt or killed in the event of a crash, but at the same time, there are ethical questions that could limit the reach of the self-driving car market.

Contact a Rancho Bernardo Car Accident Attorney

If you or someone you love sustained injuries in a motor vehicle crash, you should discuss your case with a car accident lawyer in Rancho Bernardo. Contact the Walton Law Firm today to learn more about how we can assist you.

(image courtesy of Nabeel Syed)

Self-Driving Cars Not Yet Safe for Everyday Use, Advocates Say

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 18:41:12 GMT

Are we going to see more self-driving cars on California’s roads in the upcoming weeks and months? According to a recent article in The Washington Post, auto accident safety experts and representatives from the automotive industry expressed serious concerns about the likely link between self-driving vehicles and serious car accidents. Earlier this month the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) asked a number of different groups to provide input while it develops guidance for automated vehicles, but the federal agency quickly learned that many leaders in the field simply do not approve of the technology—and allowing it out on the roads—as it currently stands.

Self-Driving Vehicle Owners Will Need Time to Adjust What is one of the primary reasons that Californians are not yet ready to own self-driving vehicles on a large scale? According to a representative from the National Safety Council (NSC), many of the features of these automated vehicles have been named and designed for marketing purposes. In practical terms, that means that it will likely be difficult for owners—both young and old—to understand how to properly engage the technology and to avoid a severe traffic collision.

If used properly, some advocates for self-driving cars argue that they could go a long way in preventing deadly car accidents. However, until researchers and other safety advocates have more time to assess the needs of consumers, such automated technology could do more harm than good. Why do we need to address the problems of self-driving cars immediately? In short, the NHTSA wants to release new guidance in just a few months in response to requests to purchase the vehicles. Yet if this guidance comes out in the summer, it will be available much more quickly than some advocates believe regulations should be constructed. The government should take more time, some commentators argue, to think about what such guidance should really contain.

But as the NHTSA administrator Mark R. Rosekind explains, there is a risk if the government does not release guidance on the sooner side. As Rosekind articulates, there is currently a “huge gap between the technologies themselves and the kind of thinking that should be accompanying their rollout.” In other words, if we want self-driving vehicles to be safe, we need to have accessible guidance in place for potential owners.

California Roads Unsafe for Automated Technology Disputes over self-driving cars are coming at the same time as an article in the Times of San Diego reporting that Southern California’s roads are in such poor condition that they are “confusing” semi-autonomous vehicles. For instance, certain roads in San Diego do not have clear lane markings, and signage is uneven. For a self-driving car, these issues could lead to a serious traffic collision.

Can roads really be repaired quickly enough to make them safe for self-driving vehicles (if, in fact, poor road conditions are actually a problem)? According to the article, around 65% of roads in the United States are currently in “poor condition.” Such a figure indicates that a majority of our roads are not safe for self-driving vehicles.

Do you have questions about accidents involving self-driving cars? Were you recently injured in an auto accident? An aggressive San Diego car accident lawyer can discuss your options with you. Contact the Walton Law Firm for more information about filing a claim for compensation.

Google Self-Driving Car Accident

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 17:02:51 GMT

Whether you are driving along the I-5 or are moving at slower speeds through a shopping area and get hit by a Google self-driving car, are you eligible to file a car accident claim? If there is no driver in the self-driving car—as its name suggests—who can be held liable for the collision? According to a recent article in The Guardian, a traffic collision involving a Google self-driving car and a city bus recently occurred in California. While the accident report did not indicate liability for the crash, if Google is found to be liable, “it would be the first time one of its SUVs caused an accident while in autonomous mode.”

Self-driving cars might sound like pieces of technology that could not possibly exist today, but they do. While California state law requires that a self-driving vehicle’s test driver be in the front seat in the event that something goes wrong, more and more Californians are seeing these vehicles on the road. Are they safe for use? Or are they likely to cause more auto accidents?

Recent Incident Involving California City Bus and Self-Driving Car

According to the article, the recent traffic collision occurred when a Google self-driving car struck a public bus on a Mountainview, California city street. At the time of the collision, the car had been moving at 2 miles per hour, while the bus was traveling at speeds of 15 miles per hour. In the accident report, Google indicated that “its car was trying to get around some sandbags on a street when its left front struck the right side of the bus.” The vehicle’s test driver reportedly “thought the bus would yield.” Google’s accident report noted that the test driver “did not have control when the collision happened.”

No one was injured in this accident, which holds true of all previous crashes involving Google self-driving vehicles. However, as you might have guessed, this is not the first time that Google automated vehicles have been involved in collisions. In most incidents, Google does not appear to have been at fault as the cars were involved in rear-end accidents.

Mistakes and Near-Misses with Automated Vehicles

Earlier this year, another article in The Guardian reported that Google self-driving vehicles have “not yet caused a single accident on public roads” (not taking into account, of course, the recent collision in Mountainview). However, the lack of Google’s liability in car accidents, according to the article, is “not for want of trying.” The autonomous vehicles that are continually being tested by Google in various parts of California have “experienced 272 failures and would have crashed at least 13 times if their human test drivers had not intervened.” That data comes from information provided by Google to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Makers of automated vehicles largely have been opposed to California’s law that self-driving vehicle manufacturers must report incidents in which a human test driver had to take control to of the vehicle. Google has been among those opposed to this condition, arguing that human test drivers often take control for harmless reasons that have nothing to do with accident prevention. According to Consumer Watchdog, “self-driving cars still need a human driver behind the wheel” to ensure safety. California lawmakers tend to agree. While automated cars may be gaining in popularity, the most recent collision in Mountainview suggests that complete automation—in which no humans are present in the front seat to take control in the event of a near-accident—may be a ways away.

If you or someone you love suffered injuries in a car accident, a dedicated San Diego car accident lawyer can discuss your options with you today. Contact the Walton Law Firm to learn more about how we can help with your claim.